Experienced quilters know that an essential part of finishing a quilt is attaching a label. As Jessica Alexandrakis writes in her book Get Started Quilting: The Complete Beginner Guide , "Labels can document who made the quilt, who it was made for, where it was made, and if it came from a published...

I love it when two popular art techniques come together. In this case: free-motion quilting motifs and Zentangle®. Zentangle free-motion quilting motifs with machine stitching and shading with paint and pencil, by Nysha Oren Nelson. If you're not familiar with Zentangle, it's a form of line...

Few quilting artists have all the time they want for creating fiber art & quilts. But accomplishing more--while still enjoying it and doing a good job--is often a matter of efficiency rather than speed. Here are some ways to work smarter and more efficiently without rushing or taking shortcuts that...

What does the terms " sewing appliques " mean to you? Do you think of hand applique? Machine applique? The applique stitch? An example of raw-edge applique by Jane LaFazio. There are many types of applique, from the traditional by-hand techniques to the fused or raw-edge applique methods preferred...

When I first discovered art quilting, heavily encrusted, beaded quilts were very popular due to a revival of crazy quilting. For a while, paint, needle felting, and fabric manipulation became more popular as surface embellishment--and that's still true. But I see beaded embellishments are making...

Many people--me among them--admire Jane LaFazio's approach to quilt making . She has a way of combining hand stitching, machine stitching, surface design, mixed-media, and even machine needle felting to create beautiful and unusual pieces of fiber art. Jane is diligent about keeping a sketchbook...

No matter how fancy your current sewing machine, no matter whether you make tiny quilts or wall-sized ones, chances are, your first experience with needle and thread was hand sewing . In Gerrie Congdon's piece 'Fiesta,' featured in the Feb./March 2015 issue of Quilting Arts Magazine , she...

Two items I'm always short on: storage and gift wrap. Two things I always have plenty of: fabric and the urge to play in my studio. Plain boxes become artful storage, gift boxes, or both with fabric painting and printing. By Lynn Krawczyk. This fabric painting project by Lynn Krawczyk solves both...

Where do you get your inspiration for art quilts ? Quilting artists get asked that question all the time. Most artists I know have keen powers of observation. They take in the patterns of bricks and grids in the city, the shapes and colors of the garden, and the unusual (to them) motifs and architecture...

Playing with your pre-programmed sewing machine stitches can be a wonderful way to spend a rainy afternoon. The plethora of stitches on some machines could keep you busy for hours--but what about some of the utilitarian stitches we all know and love? I was able to complete this quilt quickly using a...

How do you find time to work on your fabric art ? It's a question I hear often (sometimes in my own head). Turn painted fabric into fabric art in 5 minutes. We'd all love hours to spend in our studios--but that's not realistic for most who aren't full-time artists. So how do you find...

Spring is such a busy time of year: graduations, wedding showers, barbecues, the end of the school year, and so on. It seems I always need an idea for a quick gift for a teacher, hostess, or guest of honor. That's when my bin of fabric scraps and list of fabric art projects come to the rescue. A...

Quilting and hand sewing were made for each other. Even if you machine stitch your quilts, a little handwork here and there can make them pop and give your fiber art a handmade look. There are so many hand embroidery stitches to choose from, and so many ways you can use even the simplest hand sewing...

Of all the ways of finishing a quilt , creating a facing will give an art quilt the most contemporary, clean look, says Susan Brubaker Knapp. Butterfly quilt by Susan Brubaker Knapp. Facing gives the quilt a more contemporary finish than a quilt binding. Susan, who admits to actually enjoying the quilt...